Concepts
Abnorms 'Abnorm' is the politically correct term for the mutated inhabitants of Mutantown. Most Abnorms are followers of the Infinite Spirit of Holy Loving Light, a religion led by Brother Mathias. Centuries ago, these mutants were shamed and ostracized - forced to congregate in the village of Mutantown. Now they are reintegrating with society, but the process is slow. Certain racist individuals still refer to Abnorms with the offensive pejorative 'mix-up'. Broadcast Tower One of the pieces of technology left over from ancient times is Oldenburg's broadcast tower. This provided The Accord with radio communication for over a century until a great dust storm destroyed it. The Jet Pack Cops have only recently rebuilt the tower, allowing the Council of Elders to commission citizens to broadcast radio programs to the public. While there are many small transmitters spread throughout the region, only the broadcast tower has the capacity to broadcast a signal to the entire Accord at once. Weaker signals (like the Jet Pack Cops' transmitters) can be sent to the broadcast tower and then transmitted to the entire area. Cannibal Tribes The Accord isn't the only area of human occupation. In the various cave systems in the East Mountains tribes of primitive, cannibalistic savages can be found. They are killed on site by citizens of The Accord, so not much is known about them, but it is rumored they have strange mental abilities. They are loosely under the command of the Cannibal Queen. Centrefence A short rock wall that divides Dustown into the feuding Daniels and Beaujeuxlais sides. The fence was built early in the village's history. It is socially unacceptable for anyone to cross the fence. Any one who does is liable to be labelled a "dirty fence-crosser" and shamed for life. Despite it being taboo to cross, there is a single gate in the middle of Centrefence. Chuckinseed Once a year in Dustown, the villagers come to Centrefence. People on each side of the fence throw seeds at those gathered on the other. No one remembers when the tradition began, but it seems to vent the hostilities between the feuding Daniels and Beaujeuxlais clans. Council of Elders The Accord is ruled by a Council of Elders. There are twelve Elders, assigned by being the twelve oldest inhabitants of Oldenburg. The group is led by Matris Remillard. The youngest member is a 72-year old that is 2 minutes older than his twin. They vote internally and issue orders to the Jet Pack Cops. Darkstorm A terrifying natural occurrence in which the sun goes dark for minutes at a time. It is generally met by fear and panic in The Accord, and sometimes even ritualistic human sacrifice. Dirtsight A divination technique performed throughout The Accord and invented by Mental Mable. The process involves the subject digging a hole in dirt and the fortune-teller examining the characteristics of the hole. Drinking Source Tower During the Great Drought of '33, the people of The Accord were forced to drink their own urine to conserve water. After the drought ended, the population had developed a taste for urine and no longer cared to drink pure water. The Council of Elders had the Drinking Source Tower built in Oldenburg and ordered the population to spend mandatory days urinating into the tower to fill it. The construction of the Drinking Source Tower is remembered in the folk song Jenny Williams, the Wee Girl of Bandolier. In recent times, the growth of The Accord's population has caused the level in the Drinking Source Tower to dwindle. Now access to the urine within is pay-only, when the urine used to be free to everyone. Dustown Feud Dustown is the home of an ongoing feud between the Daniels Clan and the Beaujeuxlais Clan. In the early years of The Accord, the two families used to live in Oldenburg. No one remembers what started the hostilities, but a feud somehow broke out. One family (it isn't remembered which) moved out to the edge of the Dusty Waste and the other family followed out of spite. Dustown has been split ever since by a long rock wall called Centrefence. Billie Daniels and Fredward Beaujeaulais are examples of people caught in the Dustown feud. End Day End Day is a national holiday where the people of The Accord celebrate the end of the world. The world before this calamity is poorly remembered, as is whatever event actually destroyed civilization. It is vaguely remembered in songs and stories that there were lights in the sky that burned cities, but not much else. End Day is celebrated with public festivals, a championship stashball game, baked goods called 'endies', children meeting the Grim Reaper, a Survivor Pageant, and the singing of End Day Carols. Jet Pack Cops The Jet Pack Cops serve as both the military leadership and law enforcement of The Accord. While they take directions from the Council of Elders, they operate semi-autonomously, with a great degree of personal judgment. The Jet Pack Cops each wear an ancient jetpack, allowing them to travel quickly between villages. The Cops are well-regarded in The Accord for their elite skills and their commitment to the community. They are dispatched by The Chief and led by Cliff Danger. The Jet Pack Cops were actually founded by Sinn Yu, a notorious and monstrous warlord. Legend says he was struck by lightning and wandered into a cave where he found twelve jetpacks. He gave those jetpacks to eleven noble souls and brought peace and civilization to The Accord. This is remembered in the folk song Sinn Yu Changed for Good. The current roster of Jet Pack Cops: Cliff Danger Hariette T'Kembe Clemence Fiddledown Frankie Huangse Tepa Raslav Horrace Yusif Burt Pollino Rocky Dhakar Rook Stoltz Sarah "Booger" Bugra Leslie Colour Caste System Leslie has an old factory loaded with ancient pigments and a caste system has developed involving access to these pigments. The rich upper class of Leslie tint themselves in bright colours and are referred to as 'Chromes'. The poorer residents cannot afford these pigments and are an obvious (and oppressed) underclass, called ‘Blands’. Frankie Huangse is an example of a Chrome and Sarah "Booger" Bugra is an example of a Bland. Measurement Distance is measured in stretches. Length is measured in strides. Spittin Jubilee The village of Dustown has an annual Spittin' Jubilee, a celebration of spit and spitting, that has odd religious meaning that isn't understood outside of Dustown. The Spittin' Jubilee features a fair and market, spitting competition and the election of a Spittin' Queen. Stinksprout Harvest Every year, during the Drier Season, people from all around The Accord gather in Bandolier to celebrate the Stinksprout Harvest. The village chooses a young child to pick the first Stinksprout, to symbolize continuing life and rejuvenation. The tradition of the Stinksprout Harvest goes back to the tale of the legendary Green Lady, who is said to have accidentally fertilized Bandolier into the agricultural centre it is today. Stashball Stashball is a celebrated sport played throughout The Accord. Every village has a team and every year they play a tournament that comes to a final match on End Day. The basic concept of the game is that two teams are searching a large area for the opposing team's Stash. Victory is achieved by retrieving the other team's Stash and delivering it to a designated player on your team (the Bunny) who must stay within a small area called the Nest. Teams are not limited by a certain number of players, but by the total weight of their entire team, equipment and all. After an official weigh-in, the two teams must wait in an area called Ground Zero until Stash Time runs out. While Stash Time is in effect, one player from each team (called a Stasher) runs out into the play area, hiding his team's Stash. When Stash Time runs out, both teams are free to leave Ground Zero and find the Stashes. The game is exceptionally violent. Players are often equipped with knives and metal armour. They are free to wound or even kill their opponents. Players of Stashball are conscripted in a yearly Stashball Draft. All able-bodied people of a certain age are required to put their names into a barrel. The Stashball teams then call on new conscripts based on how many players their organization has lost to retirement or death that year. The Accord has two regular Stashball commentators, the excitable Jack Carothers and professional Lisa "The Wozz" Wazzleapchek, who doubles as the official stashball referee. Time The Accord notes two six month long seasons, the Dry season and the Drier season. They observe a ten day week, including Shrewsday, Whenday, Crinsday/Crimsday, Dryday, Farsdie, Shatterday and Sundie. The Accord's history goes back almost two hundred years. Wave Cannon Electrolyzer The Jet Pack Cops have gathered a few artifacts of the ancient world that existed before the destruction of civilization. One of these is the Wave Cannon Electrolyzer (referred to as the W.C.E.), a powerful weapon that calls upon huge amounts of energy. The W.C.E. has a limited number of shots before it is exhausted forever, but no one knows how many times it can be fired. .